Machen Will Remain U. of Florida President

Submitted by Kevin Kiley on January 9, 2013 - 3:00am

Florida Governor Rick Scott and the University of Florida Board of Trustees have asked[1] the university's president, Bernie Machen, to stay in his role, scrapping a search that began when Machen announced plans to retire this summer. Machen, who has been in the role since 2004 and is 68, said he will stay on and will enter into talks with the board to extend his contract.

"As we prepared for our final round of interviews with outstanding candidates, it became increasingly clear that defining a new vision for higher education in Florida will be front and center in the months ahead, and that we have the opportunity to do this important work with the governor and the Board of Governors,” said the board chairman, David Brown. “With this opportunity, we recognized the need to take full advantage of our very capable president and felt this is not the time for a lengthy transition of leadership."